The British Navy Book Part 22

"Captain Loxley was as cool as a cuc.u.mber. He gave his orders calmly and coolly, just as though the ship was riding in harbour with anchors down.

I thought nothing was amiss. The last words I heard him say were: 'Steady, men, it's all right. No panic, keep cool; be British. There's life in the old ship yet!' Captain Loxley's old terrier 'Bruce' was standing on duty at his side on the fore-bridge at the last."

One of the few stokers who were saved said that they were expecting to be relieved, and to have gone back to port, in about another hour. "An officer pa.s.sed down by us. He stopped and explained in a matter-of-fact way that the ship had been struck, was sinking fast, and it was now a question of saving as many lives as possible. He advised us to go on deck and lay hold of anything we could." One of the finest examples of self-sacrifice was given by Bugler S. C. Reed of the Royal Marines, a mere boy, who, when advised to use his drum to keep himself afloat, replied that he had thought of it, but had given it to one of the bluejacket boys for that purpose, as the lad had nothing to keep himself afloat in the heavy seas then prevailing, and _that he did not feel very nervous_. Surely the cool courage in the face of death, superlative bravery, and absolute self-devotion that have been displayed during the last few months by officers and men--yes, and boys too--of navy and army alike, have equalled, if not eclipsed, the finest deeds of our forefathers "in the brave days of old".

At last, on 24th January, our eager navy had its chance of castigating the evasive enemy. The Battle-cruiser Squadron, consisting of the _Lion_, _Princess Royal_, _Tiger_, _New Zealand_, and _Indomitable_, under the command of Sir David Beatty, who flew his flag on the _Lion_, in company with Commodore Goodenough's Light Squadron, comprising the _Southampton_, _Nottingham_, _Birmingham_, and _Lowestoft_, was patrolling in the North Sea, preceded some way ahead by the _Undaunted_, _Arethusa_, and _Aurora_, with destroyer flotillas, when about half-past seven in the morning the flashing of guns was observed to the south-south-east. Presently came a message to the flagship from the _Aurora_ that she was in action with the enemy.

Speed was increased, and the British squadrons rushed at full speed towards the scene of conflict. Other messages came in from the ships in advance reporting that the enemy's force, consisting of the _Blucher_, three battle-cruisers, and six light cruisers, had altered course to south-east, while a number of destroyers were heading to the north-west.

The main body of the enemy very shortly came in sight, but they were at a great distance, and making off as fast as they knew how. After them ploughed the British leviathans and their satellites, but it was not till nine minutes after nine that the _Lion_ got in her first hit on the _Blucher_ at something like 10 miles distance!

The enemy were in "line ahead", the _Blucher_ being the rearmost ship.

Their light cruisers were away ahead and their destroyers on their port flank, apparently meditating a dash against the advancing British. Our flotillas, with their attendant cruisers, were at this time away on the port quarter of the battle-cruisers, where they had been placed so as not to obstruct the aim of the big guns by their smoke, but the "M"

division of destroyers was now sent ahead in order to attend to the German flotilla.

By this time the leading German ship--supposed to be the _Seydlitz_--was on fire, and so was the third ship in their line. The enemy's destroyers now began to stoke up, and threw out thick black clouds of smoke, under cover of which their big ships altered course to the northward. As soon as this manoeuvre was apparent, the British ships, which by now were tearing through the water at tremendous speed, turned to follow, whereupon their destroyers again evinced a disposition to attack. But upon the _Lion_ and _Tiger_ turning their guns upon them they thought better of it, and returned to their former position. Our light cruisers kept station on the port quarter of the enemy, ready to pounce upon any cripples. Just after a quarter to eleven the _Blucher_, which had been gradually falling astern, turned out of the line to port. She was on fire, had a heavy list, and was evidently very badly mauled. A few minutes later the periscopes of a number of submarines were noticed on the starboard bow of our battle-cruisers, which at once turned to port to avoid them.

At the pace at which our ships were travelling these insidious foes would soon be left behind. Soon afterwards the flagship, having received damage which could not be at once repaired, was ordered to go off to the north-west, the admiral calling the destroyer _Attack_ alongside and going in her to the _Princess Royal_, on board of which he rehoisted his flag. On arrival he was informed that the _Blucher_ had been sunk, and that the remainder of the enemy's ships were making off to the eastward in a badly-damaged condition.

The _Seydlitz_ and _Derflinger_, particularly, were said to have been desperately knocked about. But as the battle had now approached the area of the German mine-fields, it was wisely determined to break it off and return to English waters, the _Lion_, which had received a shot in her condensers, being taken in tow by the _Indomitable_. The only ships on our side that were hit were the _Lion_ and the _Tiger_, and the little _Meteor_, which led the destroyers interposed between the German destroyers and our main line; and the total casualties were only fourteen officers and men killed and twenty-nine wounded. The German losses must have been terrible.

One of the survivors of the _Blucher_ gave a vivid account of the effects of our gunnery.[101] "The British guns were ranging. Those deadly waterspouts crept nearer and nearer. The men on deck watched them with a strange fascination. Soon one pitched close to the ship, and a vast watery pillar, a hundred metres high, fell lashing on the deck. The range had been found. Now the sh.e.l.ls came thick and fast, with a horrible droning hum. At once they did terrible execution. The electric plant was soon destroyed, and the ship plunged in a darkness that could be felt. Down below there was horror and confusion, mingled with gasping shouts and moans as the sh.e.l.ls plunged through the decks. At first they came dropping from the sky. They penetrated the decks, they bored their way even to the stokehold. The coal in the bunkers was set on fire.

Since the bunkers were half-empty the fire burned merrily. In the engine-room a sh.e.l.l licked up the oil, and sprayed it around in flames of blue and green, scarring its victims and blazing where it fell. Men huddled together in dark compartments, but the sh.e.l.ls sought them out, and there death had a rich harvest.

"The terrific air-pressure resulting from explosion in a confined s.p.a.ce left a deep impression on the minds of the men of the _Blucher_. The air, it would seem, roars through every opening and tears its way through every weak spot. All loose or insecure fittings were transformed into moving instruments of destruction. Open doors bang to and jamb, and closed iron doors bend outwards like tin plates, and through it all the bodies of men are whirled about like dead leaves in a winter blast, to be battered to death against the iron walls." Has Dante beaten this description of an Inferno?

FOOTNOTES:

[100] _Globe and Laurel._

[101] _Times._

CHAPTER XXI

The Royal Naval Air Service

"The human bird shall take his first flight, filling the world with amazement, all writings with his fame, and bringing eternal glory to the nest whence he sprang."

LEONARDO DA VINCI.

"The feathered race on pinions skim the air, Not so the mackerel, and still less the bear; Ah! who hath seen the mailed lobster rise, Clap her broad wings, and claim the equal skies?"

Poem in _The Anti-Jacobin_.

"The French are all coming, for so they declare; Of their floats and balloons all the papers advise us; They're to swim through the ocean and ride on the air, On some foggy evening to land and surprise us."

_The Invasion._ DIBDIN.

WE have had a good many surprises during the Great War, and so also have the enemy; but the fine record of the British air service is not the least of them. It is not that we had not every confidence in the pluck and resourcefulness of our gallant British flying-men, but, if we may trust available sources of information, we began the war miles behind our French friends and our German foes, both in numbers and organization.

Of course no exact figures can be quoted, but, according to an authority on aeronautic matters,[102] Germany alone was in possession of a thoroughly organized and equipped fleet of 1300 aeroplanes. According to the same authority, Austria had about 100, France 800, and Russia 300, while we ourselves are credited with 100 machines belonging to the military wing of the air service, besides those in the naval wing, whose number is not forthcoming, but which, I think, may fairly be put down at well below a hundred. Neither we nor our allies had more than three or four air-ships or dirigible balloons, while Germany had a fleet of nearly twenty, most being of the famous Zeppelin type, from which very great things were expected. The naval and military authorities in this country either did not or would not believe in these "gas-bags", and, so far, events seem to have proved that they were correct in their views.

In every estimate of the strength of navies we must not only make comparisons of material, but of personnel. "The man behind the gun" is a factor of the highest importance, and it is here that we "came in", handicapped as we were in other respects. I do not think that I can do better than again quote the same authority on this point. As regards the enemy, his estimate of the German air personnel is that its pilots were "mediocre, with a few brilliant exceptions". The Austrians were "brave and skilful pilots badly organized". As to our allies, he considers the French to have had "a very uneven air service". "Many magnificent fliers, many very bad"; while the Russians possessed "numerous skilful and daring aviators, but not very well equipped". We must not overlook the little Belgian squadron of five-and-twenty aeroplanes, which he a.s.sesses as "good", both in men and machines. We may, without vanity, accept his estimate of our own aerial establishment as "a small but highly efficient flying corps", since its efficiency has been proved over and over again.

The "Royal Flying Corps" only dates from a few years ago, and we are princ.i.p.ally indebted to Major-General--then Lieutenant-Colonel--Sir David Henderson, K.C.B., D.S.O., for its formation. He had no easy job before him when he took the matter in hand, since neither Admiralty nor War Office appeared to be in any hurry to attain a commanding position in the novel arm, in spite of the great efforts being made by France, and more especially by Germany. However, nothing daunted, he made the very best possible of the small beginnings he was able to deal with, and we are now reaping the harvest he sowed. For a time naval and military officers and men worked together, but gradually, as numbers increased, drew rather more apart, and the naval wing had its own flying-schools at Eastchurch, near Sheerness, and at Upavon, near Salisbury, its central air office at Sheerness, an establishment at Hendon, and nine or ten air stations on the coast.

At the beginning of the war, confident in their numbers and organization, the German aviators showed considerable boldness, and their skilfulness in picking out our guns and positions, and signalling them by flares, strips of glittering tinsel, circling movements, and other devices to their gunners, rendered the fire of their artillery--which at first greatly outnumbered that of the Allies--very deadly indeed. Our own airmen were by no means such adepts at this particular work to begin with, but, few as they were, they soon proved themselves the better men. They worked on the old principle that so often brought us victory afloat in Nelsonian days. "Directly you see an enemy go for him." This system of fighting enabled Sir John French to report, quite early in the campaign, that "The British Flying Corps has succeeded in establishing an individual ascendancy which is as serviceable to us as it is damaging to the enemy.... Something in the direction of the mastery of the air has already been gained." The fact was that the very qualities of preciseness, method, painstaking, and avoidance of risk which make the German so formidable in some respects do not fit in where such warfare is concerned.

The German cavalry was the same. It worked by the book. If it could ma.s.s against ours at a strength of three to one, then by all the rules of the game we ought to have retired or waited for their ponderous squadrons to ride us down and overwhelm us by sheer weight of flesh and bone. But when our dashing hors.e.m.e.n whirled into their ma.s.ses in their shirt-sleeves, and plied sabre and lance in a way that showed they meant business, and then turned round and cut their way home again in the same way, they did not like it. They have never dared to "take on" our cavalrymen on anything approaching equal terms. Brave as we must admit the Germans have shown themselves, they have not the same individual dash and self-reliance as the British races.

No German would ever attack single-handed like Sergeant O'Leary, V.C. If any proof were wanted of this, one has only to consider that the ma.s.s attack formations, which have proved so deadly to our enemies, were deliberately designed by the German military experts, with full knowledge of the growing power of modern guns and rifles, because from their experience of the war of 1870 they had formed the reasoned opinion that in no other formation could they keep their "cannon fodder" up to the scratch. All their views are well set forth in a German pamphlet published some years ago, ent.i.tled _A Summer Night's Dream_. It has been translated into English, and is well worth perusal at the present time.

Now look at our own men. Here is what Viscount Castlereagh wrote of them from the front to his wife last autumn. "The thing that has impressed me most here has been the aeroplane service; a splendid lot of boys who really do not know what fear is."[103] The German army was provided with a large quant.i.ty of guns especially designed for bringing down hostile airmen; but they proved singularly ineffective, and our flying-men simply laughed at them. And yet, with all their talk of air-raids and the effect they were supposed to have on this country, the German fliers have never attempted to attack any place over here where they thought there might be any guns in waiting to receive them.

The Naval Air Service, primarily intended for scouting at sea, not only for hostile ships but for submarines--for from high up these deadly craft are visible deep under water, just in the same way that one can see fish from a bridge that are invisible from the bank--was originally equipped with water-planes, fitted with floats instead of wheels, so that the naval aeronauts could rise from or alight on the water.

But though these machines proved of the greatest service in guarding and watching the Channel and the Straits of Dover, the enterprising spirit of the naval and marine officers who acted as air pilots, squadron commanders, &c., was not content to devote itself entirely to such necessary but perhaps rather monotonous work. The Naval Air Service after the outbreak of war went ahead by leaps and bounds. Not only were the numbers of sea-planes increased, but wheeled aeroplanes were purchased as fast as they could be obtained, and supported by a whole fleet of armoured motors fitted with machine-guns, a regular naval air contingent appeared on the Continent ready to a.s.sist the army by raiding in any direction likely to be of service. All sorts of mechanics, motor-drivers, and other men were enlisted for special service with this new organization, which lost no time in proving its great value and efficiency.

The leading spirit and commanding officer was Commander Samson, R.N., and by 4th September, 1914, he was able to report that bombs had been dropped on four German officers and forty men who had got rather too near Dunkirk. Then, about a fortnight later, came the first raid in force against the enemy's country, which created quite a scare in the German frontier cities, since, judging our gallant airmen by their own low-down standards, they feared for the lives and property of civilian inhabitants.

After carefully and successfully a.s.sisting in covering the transit of the Expeditionary Force to France, a temporary base for the naval wing was established at Ostend. It was to a.s.sist in establishing this base that the three battalions of Royal Marines were dispatched to that place in the early part of the war. Other outlying bases were gradually established in Belgium. The naval motors, acting in conjunction with the Belgians, made things very warm for the prowling Uhlans, and eventually a regularly organized combined expedition of motors and aeroplanes was directed against Cologne and Dusseldorf, with the object of destroying the Zeppelin sheds at these places and, haply, any Zeppelins that might be taking their repose within.

It fell to Flight-Lieutenant Collet of the Royal Marine Artillery to score the first "bull's-eye". This officer had attracted some attention by the way he had handled a heavy German-built biplane which the Admiralty had bought from a Leipzig firm in 1913. In the hands of the German pilot who came over with her the new machine appeared but a slow and lumbering affair, but flown by Collet she became endued with a new life, and was made to perform all sorts of startling manoeuvres. "To see him descend for a thousand feet or so," says an eye-witness, "in a closely wound spiral, with the machine standing vertically on one wing-tip, was an education in the handling of big aeroplanes."

Accompanied by other aviators, Lieutenant Collet set out from their base on 22nd September, and made for Dusseldorf, about 100 miles distant from Antwerp. Here, flying very low, he dropped four bombs on the Zeppelin shed which was the special object of attack. What damage was done was not ascertained. The attacking machine was only struck by a single bullet, which did no damage, and Collet and his companions regained their base without difficulty.

About a fortnight later another raid was made against the same sheds and also against those at Cologne.

The aviators on this occasion were Squadron-Commander Spencer-Grey and Flight-Lieutenants Marix and Sippe, all belonging to the Royal Navy. The last-named had trouble with his engine shortly after starting and had to drop out, but the remaining two rushed along through the growing light--the start had been made at the first streak of dawn--Grey making for Cologne and Marix for Dusseldorf. There was a good deal of fog, which, while it served them to a certain extent by concealing their approach, at the same time made it no easy job to steer a correct course. Travelling at 80 miles an hour Grey reached Cologne, but had no luck. Owing to the fog he was unable to locate the Zeppelin shed of which he was in search, and would not drop a bomb without a definite and legitimate objective, for fear of harming women and children. He, however, was able to do some damage to the railway station.

As for Marix, he found his way to the shed already struck by Collet.

Rising to a great height, he made a spiral dive at the tremendous speed of 140 miles an hour. He had been seen some time before, and was greeted with a tremendous fusillade from machine-guns, anti-aeroplane guns, and rifles. His machine was struck several times, but he descended to within 500 feet of the shed to which a Zeppelin had been recently removed from that damaged by Collet, let go his bombs, and shot upwards again with marvellous velocity. As he went he saw that at least one of his projectiles had scored a success, for a volcano of flame was spouting 500 feet into the air. There was one Zeppelin the less. His "mount" had been hit no less than twenty times and two of his control-wires cut, but by the exercise of great judgment and skill he contrived to travel for 10 miles on his way back and to get across the frontier, where he was met by a Belgian car and taken safely to Antwerp.

A correspondent of the _Globe_ who was at Dusseldorf at the time gives the following account of what an eyewitness saw of Flight-Lieutenant Marix's exploit and its effect. "A friend of mine saw an aeroplane one day near Dusseldorf. He followed its movements with great anxiety, and saw that it dropped when it was close by the Zeppelin shed. He had an idea that something was wrong, but about 200 metres from the ground the machine turned again and disappeared. Almost at the same moment he heard two explosions, and a few moments after saw big flames of a light colour, giving him the impression that the whole shed was on fire. My friend went down to the place as quickly as he could, but at a distance of a few hundred metres the people who had already run to the spot were kept away by a ring of soldiers. A few minutes later a rumour spread through the crowd that two more enemy aeroplanes were reported from Cologne, and immediately all the soldiers were ordered near the shed to be ready for firing at the new-comers. My friend followed the soldiers, and came quite near the place where he had seen the flames. He saw that the contents of the shed had been entirely burnt out, and only the walls of the building were erect. In the shed was the carca.s.s of a Zeppelin, burned and broken to pieces. It was one big heap of aluminium."

The next exploit of the Naval Air Service was the attack on the Zeppelin sheds at Friedrichshafen, on the Lake of Constance. There are three or four big sheds here close together, with workshops and all appliances for building and fitting out these monster air-ships. The newspapers had for some time previously been publishing paragraphs giving accounts of Zeppelin experiments at this place. Some may have been more or less correct, while others bore the stamp of the usual "bogey-bogey" stories set about by the Germans with the somewhat childish idea of frightening us. Anyway the naval airmen made up their minds to go and see for themselves. Of course their departure from the usual scene of their activities in the north was made "without beat of drum", and, as Friedrichshafen was something like 150 miles from the French frontier, their visit was entirely unexpected.

The raiders were Squadron-Commander Briggs, Flight-Commander Babbington, and Flight-Lieutenant Sippe, all of the Royal Navy. They are supposed to have started from the neighbourhood of Belfort, that very strongly fortified town on the eastern frontier of France. They were mounted on similar machines--Avro biplanes. Heading almost due east, they struck the Rhine in the vicinity of Basle--where it turns almost at a right angle from east to north--flew upstream as far as Schaffhausen with its picturesque falls, and then struck across country to Ludwigshafen, at the western extremity of Lake Constance, or the Boden See as the Germans term it. Thence they steered directly down the lake at their objective, the cl.u.s.ter of hangars and workshops on the lakeside, just east of the town of Friedrichshafen. Their advent was both seen and heard, and the whirr of their propellers was at once answered by the stutter of Maxims, the banging of guns, and the popping of musketry. But it is not easy to disable an aeroplane unless you are successful in damaging it in a vital part; so, regardless of this very warm reception, the naval airmen swooped down one after the other from the high alt.i.tudes at which they were travelling, and, pa.s.sing over their target at a height of about 1200 feet, discharged their cargoes of bombs.

Commander Briggs was the first to arrive and drop his bombs, but his petrol tank being pierced by a bullet the petrol ran out and he was brought to the ground, where he was made prisoner and taken off to hospital, having received some injuries from his fall. Babbington and Sippe, following in his tracks, bombarded first the hangars and afterwards the Zeppelin factory, and, circling round, flew off down the Rhine and arrived safely at their starting-point, though their machines had suffered some minor damages. Both were decorated on their return with the Cross of the Legion of Honour, which was pinned on their b.r.e.a.s.t.s by General Thevenet, the Governor of Belfort. All three, too, appeared as recipients of the Distinguished Service Order in the New Year's Honours List. And they had well earned their distinctions.

Putting on one side the risks inseparable from such an enterprise, they had flown right into the enemy's country for a very considerable distance, over a mountainous district and in quite unfavourable weather conditions, and had created a tremendous moral effect in the enemy nations. They had probably done a considerable amount of material damage to the hangars and workshops, possibly to one or more Zeppelins as well, but no certain details as to the extent have yet become available.

The Germans had been taught to expect great things from their well-organized and numerous fleets of air-ships and aeroplanes. They were to bombard London, defeat our fleets, and terrorize the whole of our "right little, tight little island" with these monster gas-bags.

And, lo and behold! before anything of the kind had happened, here were these pestilent English flying-men attacking them in their own country.

Not blindly dropping bombs just anywhere in haste to get rid of them, frighten civilians, and get away as fast as possible, but deliberately attacking--and hitting--selected targets. German opinion was profoundly moved. No wonder that their airmen felt that it "was up to them" to show their fellow-countrymen what _they_ could do. But what a poor show it was! On 5th December one gallant airman got within sight of Dover, but turned round and made off again. On the 24th this one, or another, actually flew over the town and dropped a bomb into a cabbage-patch. He was in too much of a hurry to select a more important target, much less. .h.i.t it. The British reply, if such an unimportant exploit could be deemed worthy of receiving a reply, was prompt and effective. The very next day--Christmas Day--the Naval Air Wing, working in conjunction with its own branch of the service, carried out an extremely well-organized attack upon Cuxhaven, the strongly-fortified port at the mouth of the Elbe which protects the approaches to Hamburg. The following officers partic.i.p.ated in this exploit: Flight-Commanders Oliver, Hewlett, and Ross, R.N., and Kilner, R.M.L.I., Flight-Lieutenants Miley and Edmonds, R.N., and Flight Sub-Lieutenant Blackburn, R.N.

The aeroplanes were all of an identical type--Shorts--just as those used against Friedrichshafen were "Avros" and against Dusseldorf "Sopwiths".

They were carried on three very fast Channel steamers that had been "taken up" by the Admiralty, each of which was commanded by a naval officer belonging to the air service. It is interesting to note that the navigating officer of one of these vessels was Mr. Erskine Childers, a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, the author of that fascinating novel _The Riddle of the Sands_, which deals most minutely with the navigation of the German coastal waters between the Elbe and the Zuyder Zee. The little expedition was convoyed by the _Undaunted_ and the "saucy" _Arethusa_--a pair of new light cruisers which have proved themselves a most effective type of war-vessel--and a cordon of submarines and destroyers. Everything had been worked out in detail.